Chocolate Milk: The Perfect Post Workout Snack?
I've heard people say for years that chocolate milk is the perfect post workout recovery drink... it's the perfect combination of protein and carbohydrates they say...
You guys... look at this marketing (I snapped this photo off the back of a Cheerios box that was on the conveyor belt at Superstore).
It's true that an excellent post workout snack is a combination of protein and carbohydrates. In my opinion, it is extremely false that chocolate milk is the "perfect" post workout snack, regardless of the fact that it contains protein and carbohydrates. Let's take some time today to look a little closer at the exact amounts (this label is from "Dairy Land" chocolate milk):
Just to put it into perspective for you, 26 grams of added sugar per day is your DAILY MAXIMUM (and a generous daily maximum in my opinion) and 9 grams of protein is a tiny bit more than the amount of protein in 1 egg! And this is if you only drink 1 cup... most of those single serving cartons of chocolate milk contain 437 ml of chocolate milk, which will cause these numbers to almost DOUBLE!
Now, before you put me into the category of "food police", I just want to clarify one thing. I love chocolate as much as the next person! And when I go for frozen yogurt, let me tell you, I get every single chocolate, fudge, brownie topping there is. The problem I have is with our marketing and the fact that we are marketing this drink as "perfect" and "healthy" for post workout. What I want you guys to think of when you look at this drink is that it's a treat and one that should be consumed in limited quantities and saved for special occasions versus something that you feed your children after each practice or game.
I want to leave you with some useable information rather than just ranting the entire time - so here are some ideas for yourself or your children for post workout snacks:
- Plain Greek yogurt and fruit
- 2 eggs and fruit
- Leftover dinner of sweet potato and meat
- Protein smoothie with 1 scoop of protein powder and fruit
There are so many other combinations of foods you could use but really focus your post workout meal/snack around carbohydrates and protein.
I hope this helped clear up any marketing confusion! I would love to hear what you guys eat for your post workout meals - write your meal/snack in the comments section below!
Until next time,
Yours in Health,
Kristin